Improvement in generators for generating carbonic-acid gas



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

l. W. STANTO N. Generators for Gerierati ng Carbonic Acid Gas.

Patented April 1, 1873.

INVE NTOH.

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Generators for Generating Carbonic Acid Gas.

N0.137,330, PatentedApril1,1873.

L I INVENTOR.

AM. PHOTO-LITHDGRAPH/c 011 w (mm/v5; PROBE-9s) JOHN WV. STANTON, OF BROOKLYN, NEWV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN GENERATGRS FOR GENERATING CARBONlC-AClD GAS.

Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 137,330, dated April 1, 1873; application filed November 29, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. STANTON, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Oarbonic-AcidGas Generators for Extinguishing Fires, of which the following is a specification:

N (more and Object.

This invention pertains to the art of extin-- Drawing.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of generating-tank or chamber. Fig. 2 is a top view or plan of the same with the cover removed. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal and vertical section through the center; Fig. 4, Sheet 2, represents another modification of the invention as best adapted for use in large buildings or blocks of buildings where large quantities of the gas may be required and Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the same between two of the shelves or supports. As is well known, the chemicals commonly used for the rapid production of carbonic-acid gas in large quantities are bicarbonate of soda and sulphuric acid properly diluted with Water. When said elements are brought into combination with each other in proper proportions, carbonicacid gas is evolved very rapidly, and produced in any quantity proportionate to the relative quantities of the chemicals; and, as said gas is a powerful opponent to combustion, and is highly elastic and, therefore, very penetratin g, it is admirably adapted to the purpose of extinguishing fires in buildings, ships, mines,

&c., and where it is often ditficult and sometimes impossible to introduce water. It is also of the greatest importance, where used for subduin g conflagrations, that the materials should be ready for action upon the instant they are wanted, and in any desired quantity. (lousequently, to this end, I have provided a tank or chamber, as at A, which may be of any desired shape, either rectangular or cylindrical, as shown in the drawing, or other convenient form; and it may be made of any material, as wood or metal, capable of sustaining the required pressure, and sufficiently tight to retain the liquids and gases, and of sufficient size to meet any required emergency-that is, it must be large enough to hold a sufficient quantity of the chemicals to generate gas enough to fill, with some pressure, any room in the building desired to be protected. Within said chamber, tank, or reservoir, is placed a solution, preferably a strong solution, of sulphuric acid, only water enough being added to hasten the action of the chemical combination; and above said solution is suspended the alkaline substances, as the bicarbonate of soda, within said tank or chamber, so that the instant any portion of it is let down into the acid solution, the chemical action begins, and carbonic-acid gas is generated. Said alkaline substance, whatever it may be, is placed upon shelves or supports, as at B, arranged within the upper portion of said tank or chamber in such a manner that the alkaline material may be divided into separate quantities or masses when placed thereon, so that any desired amount of said substance may be precipitated into the acid solution, and only so much as is required. These several shelves or supports are conveniently mounted upon pivots or axes, as at O G; and one end of said axes may extend through the wall or side of the tank and be provided with crank-arms, as at D, Figs. 1 and 2, which may engage with sliding bars or handles E E mounted in suitable bearings or guides F, and by the reciprocation of which the shelves connected therewith may be tilted, as shown at 9, Figs. 1 and 3; or said shelves or supports may be placed one above another, as shown at Fig. 4: each shelf consisting of half a disk of the size of the diameter of the tank; and they may be pivoted upon brackets fastened on the inside of the tank and at the ends of their diametrical section, and be supported in some portion of their are upon latches or bolts, as at H, extending through the side or wall of the tank, and which may be with drawn in any convenient manner, as by levers and cords, as seen at K, Figs. 4 and 5, and which will permit the shelf or shelves so reso disposed across the tank or chamber thatthe massed substance will be broken in gravitating toward the bottom of the tank. The several shelves or supports can be charged by removing the covers of the tanks or chambers; and when said supports are disposed or arranged in horizontal series, as shown on Sheet 1, they may be arranged to match to or upon one another, as seen at N, Fig. 3, so as to form continuous supports, but capable of being broken or divided ,into various subdivisions. Said supports may also be divided in the center of the tank, so that only one-half their surface may be tilted or emptied; and in such case the operating or tripping devices will be required on both or opposite sides of the tank or reservoir. Suitable pipes, as at 0, provided with valves and branches for regulating and conducting the gas, when generated, to the floor or room to be acted upon, are provided; and conducting-hose, as at P, may also be added, when desired, to complete the apparatus.

An important advantage gained in having the acid solution in the bottom of the tank is that the water is not so liable to freeze as when free from saline substances; and it will be found preferable to make the acid solution so strong that it will not freeze above 0 Fahrenheit.

In the adaptation of such apparatus to the protection of buildings, ships, mines, 850., one

or more tanks of suitable dimensions is provided and located in any convenient .place, care being taken that the tripping devices are so located that they may always be reached from some secure point; and when the gas is desired, a shelf or support may be tilted to throw its contents into combination with the acid in the proper quantity desired, and so on, one after another, until the entire space where the fire is raging is completely filled with gas under pressure, and the oxygen of the air is prevented from sustaining combustion.

I, therefore, claim- 1. In combination with a gas-generating chamber, a series of shelves or supports for holding, in properly-divided quantities, the alkaline substance, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

2. In acarbonic-acid-gas generator, the combination of a receptacle for holding a solution of sulphuric acid and water, with a series of trippingshelves or their equivalents for sustaining the alkaline materials in controllable quantities, and permitting the dropping of any desired part of the alkaline material into the acid and water at the will of the operator, as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a carbonic-acid-gas generator, of the mechanism for scattering or disseminating the alkaline materials, substantially as described, with the mechanism for supporting the same in separate quantities, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with the supports for the alkaline substance in a gas-generating chamber, the tripping or tilting devices, substantially as drssribed, and for the purpose set forth.

' JOHN \V. STANTON.

Witnesses:

WM. E. SIMoNDs, OIIAs. M. MARTIN. 

